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Dessert

Creams and Custabds

A collection of custard and cream desserts, including macaroon baskets and blanc‑mange.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Wilcox, Estelle Woods, comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 18 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 19,175 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Custard, molds and gelatine

  1. Beat yolks with part of the milk to avoid waste.

  2. If custard curdles, beat thoroughly with an egg beater to smooth it.

  3. Keep molds wet in cold water; if they do not release, dip them briefly in warm water.

  4. If custard cooks lumpy, strain it before serving.

  5. Use one ounce of gelatine per half package; test purity by dissolving in boiling water, cold water, and vinegar.

Macaroon baskets

  1. Dissolve a tablespoon of gum arabic in half cup boiling water, then add one large cup white sugar and boil gently until thick; keep hot.

  2. Butter a round tin pail thickly on bottom and sides; dip the edges of each macaroon in the hot candy and lay them in close rows on the bottom until covered; let them dry.

  3. Build the wall one row at a time, letting each harden before adding the next.

  4. When the basket is firm, lift it carefully, make a loop-handle at each end with four or five macaroons stuck together, set on a flat dish and heap with whipped cream; sprinkle confections or red jelly on top.

  5. For orange baskets, cut the fruit into a basket shape, fill with cream or ice cream, and let harden before filling with whipped cream.

Make the custard

  1. Dissolve three heaping tablespoons of corn starch and sugar in one pint milk; add three beaten eggs; pour into one pint boiling milk, stirring constantly until it boils again; flavor to taste and pour into cups or small molds; when cool, serve with jelly or sweetened cream.

By Wilcox, Estelle Woods, comp. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together19,175 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together35,031 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Milk + corntop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together6,953 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).

  4. Corn + vanillatop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,943 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  5. Milk + eggtop 9% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together88,465 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and vanilla share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,031 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Thicken the custard as they cook and give it richness and a firm, creamy set.
Corn starch
Thickens the hot milk so the custard sets smooth and holds its shape when cool.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that the eggs and starch thicken into custard.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and, when boiled, forms the candy that binds the macaroons together.

The step that matters

Stirring the custard back to a boil. Corn starch thickens only when heated with constant stirring. If the mixture sits or heats unevenly, it can lump, scorch on the bottom, or stay thin, and the eggs can curdle.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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